There has been much debate on the politics and pedagogies of bilingual education in K-12 schools, but conspicuously absent in this debate are institutions of higher education. English-only ideologies are deeply embedded and rarely questioned in U.S. institutions of higher education, which predominantly require English language proficiency to access college-level coursework. Working within the intersections of critical race theory and participatory research, I engaged Latina immigrant students participating in a community college bilingual early childhood degree program as "research collaborators" in examining the influences of this program on their lives. Their stories, shared in a community narrative, reveal how this program opened the door to college access and empowered them as students, mothers, professionals, and advocates. In my discussion of our findings I highlight the capital Latina immigrant students bring to their academic journey, critique the English-only pathway to college, and underscore the importance of creating spaces for the voices of these students to be heard. Documenting our research journey, I also provide an analysis of the challenges and rewards of engaging students from a traditionally marginalized population as research collaborators. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]